The only way
Submitted by Heather on May 08 1999 at 22:14:02
In reply to Two steps at a time .... Submitted by F.O.D. on May 08 1999 at 19:46:11
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"This, by the way, is I believe one of Heather's pet subjects" Indeed. :) Okay, there are several ways to tackle this. 1) Hard-line exclusivist view (preached by Fundamentalists of all denominations): Jesus is the only way to the Father; therefore, anyone who isn't part of the visible Christian Church will go to hell. 2) Modified exclusivist view (or modified inclusivist view; it all depends on your viewpoint; preached by the Catholic Church and most mainline Protestant demonations): Jesus is the only way to the Father, but some people outside the Christian Church follow Jesus without being aware that they are doing so – these people are part of the invisible Christian Church, though they don't realize it. (As F.O.D. says, C. S. Lewis provides a fine example of this view in The Last Battle). 3) Inclusivist view (preached by liberal Christians of all denominations): Jesus is the only way for Christians, but people in other religions find their own paths to God. (Doesn't really address the hard passages in the Gospels, but then, liberal Christians simply say, "Oh, those passages were a later addition"). 4) Really interesting inclusivist view (preached only by the Quakers): Christ (not the human Jesus) is the only way to the Father, but the Christ has spoken within the spirits of non-Christians. (This gets around the really difficult theological problem of why fifteen centuries passed between the death of Jesus and the discovery of the New World; under the hard-line exclusivist view, all the New World people during those fifteen centuries were cheated of their opportunity for salvation. The problem with this view is that it doesn't fully explain why the Christ needed to take flesh in the form of Jesus.) So there you have it. Take your pick. Heather |